


i love you to heaven and back

by houseofbees



Category: Spider-Man (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Gen, Heavy Angst, seriously don't read if you're sensitive to graphic descriptions of pain, writing this hurt me physically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:14:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23316703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/houseofbees/pseuds/houseofbees
Summary: Oh, the inherent homoeroticism of dying in your best friend's arms.
Relationships: Harry Osborn/Peter Parker
Comments: 6
Kudos: 92





	i love you to heaven and back

The scene of a battle frightened most. It seemed to invite-- no, force itself at-- Peter, and by extension, Harry. Though, to attribute the pumping adrenaline lighting up his veins to pure exhilaration would be completely wrong.

Instead, it was the innate fear of plummeting boulders and massive flames around him which made his hands shake and heart pound. It was the wretched smell of smoke and impending death swarming the area combined with the copper blood oozing into his mouth. The bulky and melted armor engulfing him and threatening to burn his skin made tears sting behind his eyes, and the harrowing screams of little kids as they huddled together under a crumbling building.

A crumbling building, easily thirty stories tall, raining down upon them with the vengeance of the ancient Greek gods.  
  
Held up with the might of a single man.

Peter rose, trembling and grimacing, against the weight of the bricks and concrete. A pair of kids-- couldn't be more than six-- held each other close, away from the blazing fire surrounding them.

Harry squeezed his eyes shut. A thick smoke forced its way into his lungs and it took all of his might to restrain a coughing fit-- he had to stay strong. These kids couldn't handle a _superhero_ being panicked.

"Everyone, follow me," he said, gently pushing the two forward. But they stumbled back, eyes wide with fear as they glanced between the flames and Harry. Oh, right, he had _molten metal_ dripping down his arms.

"Listen--" Peter gasped-- "listen to him!"

A thundering _CRACK!_ boomed and Peter dropped to his knees with a grunt. Harry narrowly followed, a chunk of debris landing just behind him. His eyes dropped to the kids, a fierce determination settling in his chest.

Flames licking at their ankles, time running short, Harry grimaced as he ripped off his gauntlets and lava torched his skin with incinerating heat. His vision blanked, but he quickly regained himself and-- summoning his glider-- grabbed the two kids.

Barely a second after they made through the hellscape of flames and an impending doom, an ear-splitting boom sounded and Harry bolted-- gasping as he and the two kids tumbled to the ground. For a second, nothing registered. The blue sky stained with smoke and the gray city landscape tinged with fog.

But then, the dust cleared and a gigantic pile of ash and rocks and smoldering embers stood where an apartment building had once been.

And Peter was nowhere to be seen.

\--

Darkness. A dazed numbness permeating through his entire world. Tiny colored dots swimming across his vision.

Distant voices-- _familiar_ voices-- calling out to him. He twitched, groaning as heavy, coarse rocks slid across his burning skin. His lungs strained with every breath and his head spun as he slowly opened his eyes-- blinking away a trickle of blood seeping into them.

A figure approached him, orange and blue and familiar. A spark flashed in Peter's mind, and he gritted his teeth as he titled his head up. Harry put a hand over his mouth, stumbling towards him.

"Pete...?" Harry whispered. "Oh, no. Peter-- shit."  
  
Peter gave a weak grunt, lungs and ribs straining with the effort and-- so, so close to snapping. A couple rocks fell from what Peter guessed must've been... ah, a _very big_ pile of stone and rocks. The cold concrete rested below him and he let out a weak laugh. _Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place._

"This, uhm-- you're gonna be okay. You're gonna be fine, Peter," Harry said, kneeling down. Peter sighed, looking up at Harry.

"Hh..." Peter wheezed, swallowing back a cough rattling up his chest. But he didn't get far before it ruptured through his mouth, splats of blood following the erratic sounds. Harry jumped back, sucking in a breath.

"Don't--! Don't move. Pete, everything's gonna be okay. I'm... I'm gonna call a..." Harry patted his thigh. "Call someone. Just don't move, please." He gave a shaky breath. "Don't strain yourself."

Peter whimpered in reply. A flash of panic crossed Harry's face but was quickly brushed off as he turned away. With nothing left to distract him, Peter tried to focus on his breathing-- inhaling the sharp scent of blood and smoke _(god, that explains the burns)--_ and the sounds of the world around him. _In and out, Parker. You can do this._

He didn't know how long it was until Harry gently nudged him, a soft look over his worried and tear-stained face. Peter stirred, blinking away the heavy exhaustion weighing on his eyes.

"Okay-- _okay_ , I called a--" Harry coughed at the crack in his voice-- "an ambulance, but it's uhm... privately owned so we don't have to worry about uh--" he gestured to Peter's shredded costume--"this. And..." He trailed off, eyes glossing over. "Are you alright?"

Peter tried to grin-- _Do I look okay, Har?--_ but the moment he took a breath and opened his mouth, a deep rumble spread above him and he gasped as his vision blanked and his ribs gave out in his chest. His skin stretched and tore, warm sticky blood running down his back. A swarm of black dots formed at the edge of his vision, swimming in dizzying patterns.

When he came to, whimpers flew past his lips and tears bubbled and dropped from his eyes in endless streams. A soft hand landed on his own, and Peter realized the sobs weren't just his own.

Through his blurred and distorted vision, Peter caught a glimpse of Harry, curled in on himself and face twisted into a grimace.

"Fuck-- fuck, fuck, shit, goddammit, no, no, no _no no no!_ " Harry whimpered, body shaking with tremors. Peter watched, inching forward with twitchy movements-- _god, my body's like a puppet--_ and forcing words through his bloodied lips.

"Mmph! Hhy, peh-- _please_ ," Peter stumbled. "Dn't creh."

His words seemed to have the opposite effect; Harry promptly broke down and clutched at his head, shrill wails echoing through the air-- or maybe it was just Peter's imagination. Suddenly, the pain tearing through Peter's body paled in comparison to the soreness bleeding through his heart.

Peter trembled, clutching at Harry with a shaking hand. Just as he managed another inch out from under the rubble, another wave of dirt and rocks dumped onto Peter's head. The sharp stinging of dirt in a wound burned at the back of Peter's head. He bit his lip, taking a shallow breath.

"Harry," he whispered. A chattered sob broke from Harry's lips before he crumbled and tore his hands away from his head. Burns and scars covered his face, and Peter couldn't stop his hand from ghosting over Harry's cheek.

"Pete." Harry shook, shoulders slumping as a wave of realization seemed to wash over him. " _No_ , no, please... god, not you. Not you."  
  
Peter looked down, swallowing back the rattling cries building in his throat.

The rocks and pillars and debris stacked on top of him-- _crushing_ him and _tearing_ through his skin and into his organs-- engulfed him, with only a tiny opening to the outside world. Every single second, his body was growing number-- god, he couldn't even feel his legs-- and his blood warmer. A chilling coldness seeping into his hands and slowing his movements.

A strange calmness spread through his mind. His hands clenched into fists, and Peter watched as they moved. Full of life, controlled by a clump of neurons sitting in a bone case. That's all he was. Neurons. Cells.

Peter sniffed, wincing at the blinding pain shooting up from his chest. The black dots swarming at the edge of his vision collapsed into a single, swirling mass consuming all color and structure.

There was only one conclusion Peter could come to.

"I don't wanna die," Peter whispered. A surprising emptiness overtook him, resting the turmoil boiling in his chest.

"Pete." Harry sounded so, _so_ broken, beaten, and Peter couldn't help but shed a tear for his _best friend in the whole world._

"I'm so sorry, Harry."

And just like that, the dam burst-- as if even then, Harry had been holding himself back. Loud sobs and wails filled with such heartbreak rang through the air, and Peter let himself stop fighting, stop resisting the overwhelming exhaustion seeping through every inch of his body.

He bit his tongue-- so hard he drew foul-tasting and warm blood- to hold back a cry of back as he dragged himself away from the stones and rocks.

After what felt like hours, he landed in Harry's lap, clinging to the heat radiating from him. God, Peter was so, so cold. He whimpered out something even he didn't understand, but Harry seemed to get the message as he wrapped trembling arms around him.

"You'll be okay," Peter mumbled.

"I-- god, no-- I can't. I can't live--" Harry choked, taking a shaky breath. " _Please,_ don't leave me all alone."  
  
Barely any fragments of the physical world remained. Black completely overtook Peter's vision. Muffled, nearly inaudible yet distinguishable snippets of conversation echoed through his mind, and the horrible copper taste of blood faded into a neutral water-like texture. The lower half of Peter's body went completely numb, and it quickly spread to his chest. Tugging away from the grasp of death itself, Peter forced open his eyes one more time.

"It's not fair!" Harry sobbed. "Please, god, it isn't fair." Peter's hand twitched, aching to wipe away Harry's tears.

"I know," Peter breathed.

" _I love you, Peter._ "

Peter closed his eyes.

"I know."


End file.
